


Second Chances

by Gothra



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27614269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothra/pseuds/Gothra
Summary: There's a lot of feelings to sort through when someone you thought was dead turns up alive -- something Ruby has just recently learned. She knows she needs to talk things through with Penny... but that's easier said then done when you're tangled up in your emotions.
Relationships: Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I wanted to write a slightly angsty/emotional scene after Ruby and Penny reunited since I felt like that was just a HUGE missed opportunity when v7 came out. I Guess I Just Have To Do Everything Myself.

Ruby’s foot traced a loose circle in the dirt. How long had it been? It felt like she had been waiting for hours, and yet it felt like it had only been seconds since she sat down on this bench. She looked up at the park in Mantle she’d chosen to meet in, it’s browning, overgrown vegetation both a sign of the coming cold and a sign that no one had tended to this park in quite some time. Even now, she was the only person to be seen. In fact, that’s the exact reason she’d picked this spot -- this wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have around anyone.

Ruby could’ve gone with the Academy, she supposed, but somehow it just didn’t feel… comfortable. She knew her friends only meant well, but she wanted as little a possibility of them being around as possible. She needed to talk to Penny, and Penny alone.

She leaned back against the bench, exhaling. She’d been wringing with and fiddling her hands so long she thought she might start to wear through her gloves. Ruby wasn’t _mad_ that Penny was late -- Penny had already said she might be as such, since her duties in Mantle kept her busy so often. It was something that Ruby was already acutely, and unfortunately, aware of -- between that and their training at Atlas Academy, it was a wonder they ever saw each other anymore. No, she was just so… _anxious._ This was supposed to be like ripping a bandage off, but instead it was like it was being slowly, _agonizingly_ torn from her skin. She tapped her foot against the ground, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.

“Where are you Penny?” She muttered to no one in particular.

Then, she heard the telltale sign -- the sound of rocket boosters getting closer. Then, the speck of green light on the horizon, growing larger and larger. There was no relief for Ruby at the sight -- she felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest, beating faster and faster the closer the light came to her. Doubt began to creep into Ruby’s mind over whether she was really ready to have this conversation.

However, the time to abscond had passed, as dust was kicked up from the force of Penny’s boosters. Penny lowered herself to the ground right in front of Ruby, and Ruby stuck an arm up over her face, keeping anything from getting blown into her eyes. The wind died down, and before Ruby stood the red-haired, emerald-eyed girl that Ruby called her friend. There was the ever-present smile on her sweet face.

“Salutations, Ruby!” Penny said with gusto.

Ruby stood up from the bench, giving a genuine, if uncertain, smile. “Hey, Penny,” her voice shaking just a little. Ruby chided herself internally -- she was supposed to be a huntress, and huntresses didn’t lose their composure before a difficult conversation had even begun.

Then again, most huntresses didn’t have to contend with seeing someone again after they’d been ripped apart right in front of your eyes.

Part of her still couldn’t believe it -- that Penny was standing there, right in front of her, so real that she could just… reach out and touch her if she wanted. Ruby half-expected to walk down the street and see Pyrhha waving at her with a smile.

“You… wanted to speak with me?” Penny asked.

“O-- oh, um… right, sorry,” Ruby stammered out. Had she really been standing there thinking for that long? “I… I did, yeah.”

Penny tilted her head, raising her eyebrows. “Is something… wrong? I haven’t done something to upset you, have I?”

“Nono, not at all!” Ruby said, waving her hands around. “I mean… I guess you’re not wrong about something… being… well, wrong-- b-- but it’s not your fault! It’s just… hoo boy.” Ruby felt her shoulders sink. She _wasn’t_ ready to talk about this, that was clear enough by now… but it was already too late to back out.

“Ruby,” Penny said. There was a tone of gentle softness to her voice, a genuine kindness from the heart that made Ruby’s own skip a beat. Penny reached out, touching Ruby on the arm. “If something is hurting you, you can talk to me about it. I… may not be too experienced in comforting others, but I can try.”

With her other hand, Ruby laid hers on Penny’s, squeezing it lightly. “I think you’d be a natural at it.” Ruby took in a deep breath -- she couldn’t get this over with if she never started it. “I just… I… wanted to talk to you. About the Vytal Festival… about what… happened to you.”

“If you are worried that it was painful, I can reassure you that it was not as bad as it might have appeared.”

“No, I… I mean, I’m glad it wasn’t, but… but that’s not really what I meant.”

Penny’s green eyes looked into Ruby’s grey. They were like an emerald ocean, calm and serene, but somewhere you could get lost in if you weren’t careful.

“Penny, for all this time I thought… I thought you were dea… de….” The word caught in her throat, as if saying it would bring reality crashing down around this dream like a tidal wave, and that she’d wake up to find that Penny was still gone.

“Ruby…” Penny said. There was… _understanding_ in her voice. “I am sorry, Ruby. For me… I knew you were still out there, somewhere, even if I didn’t know where. I did worry about you, about everyone, about whether you were safe, but… but I had hope that you were, and that we would see each other again someday. I suppose I have already been used to the idea that I am still alive, but for you… it must be a shock. I was… too excited and happy to realize how hard it must have been for you, to think I was dead for so long. I am truly sorry Ruby, that I could not recognize your feelings sooner.”

Tears started rolling down Ruby’s cheeks. “I-- I don’t want you to _apologize_ I just--”

Ruby couldn’t take it anymore. Choking down a tearful breath, she wrapped her arms around Penny, crying. She just needed to know Penny was _there_ , to hold her -- that she wasn’t going to disappear. That she really hadn’t lost someone else like she thought she had.

Penny’s arms encircled Ruby, cradling Ruby’s head in her shoulder. Penny was warm, but not in the way humans were warm. It was… different. There was no heartbeat, but the steady thrum of whatever it was that powered Penny. It was comforting. “It’s alright, Ruby. I am right here -- and I am not going anywhere.”

“Don’t do that again,” Ruby said into Penny’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

Ruby pulled her head up. Her eyes were puffy and red, cheeks wet with tears. “Don’t _leave_ me again.” Ruby’s voice was quaking -- it took so much to put on a smile for everyone, to act like she was fine when she knew very well that she was not. Ruby was a leader -- leaders inspired, leaders were strong for the group when they lost hope. Leaders told everyone that everything would work out, even if they themselves weren’t sure. But right now… she couldn’t be a leader anymore, couldn’t keep up the will to keep the mask from cracking. All she could do was be… Ruby. Ruby who had lost her mother so long ago, who had lost friends, faith, trust, dreams… and for once, something she’d thought she’d lost forever had come back to her.

In that moment, Penny looked at Ruby and saw more than most ever had. The pain and loss, the desperation… the loneliness. Penny didn’t have to know Ruby’s past to see the scars it had left behind. To finally see past the brave face Ruby had kept up for so long. Penny put a hand on Ruby’s cheek. “I will not leave you again -- I promise. And I will do my best to make sure that no one else ever does.”

Ruby began to say “thank you” but halfway through her sobs jammed the words. Penny held her for as long as she needed -- Ruby wasn’t sure if it was minutes, hours… for all she knew entire days could’ve passed. But she didn’t care how long it was. She just needed to be here, in Penny’s arms… the arms of the girl she realized now she loved. Loved more than just as her friend.

“I missed you… I missed you so much,” Ruby said through sniffles.

Penny pressed her forehead to Ruby’s. “I know… it will be alright now. I know it will.”

Second chances are a rare thing, afforded to very few and so often squandered. But with Ruby’s arms resting on Penny’s back, feeling Penny’s hand calmly stroking the back of her head, Ruby held on to one determination -- she would not waste this second chance.

**Author's Note:**

> RT I swear to god if you make this retroactively tragic with volume 8............


End file.
